The Gallifreyan Gazette Pages

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: Dalek Reviewed By @Paul_Bowler

DalekBy Robert ShearmanReviewed By Paul Bowler

"You would make a good Dalek."

As we enjoy the 50th Anniversary year of Doctor Who, it seems
fitting perhaps that we take stock of the series past as well as the renewed
success that Doctor Who has enjoyed since its triumphant return to our screens.
Once seemingly forgotten and unloved by the BBC, Doctor Who was lovingly
resurrected from the enforced exile of cancellation in 2005 by Russell T Davis,
Julie Gardener, Mal Young, and Phil Collinson. Together they crafted a new
vision of the world’s longest running Science Fiction programme, capitalizing on
their heartfelt love of Doctor Who and its rich mythology, and regenerating the
concept for the enjoyment of a new generation for fans.

One crucial element, however, was missing - the Daleks. So
when the TARDIS brought the Doctor and Rose to Henry Van Statten’s vast
underground museum of alien artefacts near Salt Lake City, Utah, we watch
transfixed as the Doctor is led to a gloomy cell for an encounter with the
proprietors prized exhibit - The Metaltron - little knowing that the
hate-fuelled horror trapped inside will prove to be a terrifying reminder of his
own not-so-distant past in which he sacrificed everything to save the universe
from a war of eternal oblivion…

It’s hard to believe now, that this momentous moment almost
never happened. The BBC had initially been unable to gain the permission of
Terry Nation’s estate to use Skaro’s eponymous metal mutants in the new series
of Doctor Who. Thankfully the matter was soon rectified, allowing Russell T
Davies to incorporate Robert Sherman’s own adaptation of his Big Finish audio
Jubilee - a story which rightly instigated a renaissance for Colin Baker’s
undervalued 6th Doctor - as well as providing this seasons “Big Bad” for
Christopher Eccleston’s battle hardened Doctor to fight.

This episode effectively stifled any chance of a mid-season
lull by whipping up a frenzy of speculation with a trailer that was little more
than a strangled voice in the dark: “DOC-TOR…” The Daleks were back, and with
them in place the enduring legacy of Russell T Davies’ bold vision was assured,
Doctor Who would soon become an unparalleled success - spawning two spin-off
shows, animated adventures, merchandise galore, and critical accolades from
around the world.

The Doctor’s initial terror at being trapped in the Cage with
the Dalek quickly dissolves into pious joy as he realizes the Dalek is unable to
exterminate him; although the ranting diatribe which then ensures between the
mortal enemies almost chews up the scenery, we, like the Doctor, are all too
aware of the destructive capabilities even this solitary Dalek could pose to
humanity. The war of words culminates in a chilling realization for both Time
Lord and Dalek - for without orders to govern it the Dalek is devoid of purpose
or function, while the Doctor, bereft of his people, has been left broken by the
terrible consequences of his actions.

To coin a phrase, Christopher Eccelston is absolutely
“fantastic” in this episode. His embittered portrayal of the 9th Doctor’s fury
is almost palpable, matching Nicholas Briggs equally fractured Dalek protagonist
word for word, and it is only now in hindsight that we realize how pivotal this
moment was for the new series. Bear in mind that at this point in the new shows
mythology the Doctor and the Dalek are as in the dark as we are, we’ve already
learned of the cataclysmic fate that befell Gallifrey during The End Of The
World, but nothing more beyond that point. The Daleks in their ingenuity have
indeed managed to survive the Time War: The Emperor has been rebuilding his
Dalek Empire in orbit above Earth in the far future, the Cult of Skaro have
escaped into The Void, even Davros’ ship somehow evaded destruction after being
consumed by the maw of The Nightmare Child., but perhaps most audacious of all
is the lone Dalek Cruiser that travelled back in time to become part of Winston
Churchill’s war effort during the Blitz (Victory of the Daleks) ,infiltrating
Churchill’s War Room with tea-making “Ironsides” in an ingenious ploy to trick
the Doctor into activating The Progenitor - effectively resurrecting the Dalek
race with a pure genetic matrix unblemished by their past defeats. The Daleks
even have world where they store the most deranged of their kind, a planet sized
prison that even the mighty Dalek Parliament fear to visit, the legendary Asylum
of the Daleks.

To date the only Time Lord who seems to have evaded the
apocalyptic demise of Gallifrey is The Master. A small handful of Time Lords
were also stranded in a pocket universe where they, and their TARIDS’,
unfortunately succumbed to the interstellar parasite known as House. Even
Rassilon, for all his esteemed power and knowledge, was unable to transcend the
laws of time to escape the all consuming final conflict as Gallifrey burned
along with the ten million strong Dalek Battle-Fleet.

The Doctor confides in Rose that he would be able to sense if
any of his people had survived; a point which further emphasises this 9th
incarnation’s inherent loneliness. Interestingly it is this one weakness which
the imprisoned Dalek uses to its advantage: “And the coward survived…” it grates
during their initial encounter in the Cell, then later deflecting the Doctor’s
incandescent fury after it has ruthlessly exterminated the security teams sent
to cover Rose and Adam’s escape by stating: “You would make a good Dalek!”

We have yet to learn the exact nature of the 8th Doctor’s
role in the Time War, or what terrible trauma he suffered to induce his
regeneration. Whatever the fate of this most ignoble of the Doctor’s
incarnations, the catalyst for his regeneration - either by injury or impending
death - would’ve been the last act of grief stricken man broken by the
destruction he had wrought. The Time War is possibly the greatest mystery of all
in the new series. However, with John Hurt revealed as another incarnation of
the Doctor in the Season Seven finale: The Name of The Doctor, along with the
news that the Daleks are also set to return in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary
special, its possible that some of the secrets of the Time War will be revealed
at last.

Of the supporting cast, Cory Johnson plays the suitably
odious billionaire Henry Van Statten. For all his wealth and power, Van Statten
has been unable to capitalise on his most treasured exhibit from another world -
the Dalek. Even though it has been tortured remorselessly by the sadistic
Simmons (Nigel Whitmey) the Dalek steadfastly refuses to talk to Van Statten.
The entrepreneur has built his fortune on the back of extraterrestrial finds
such as this, but he also has a contemptible attitude towards his staff - wiping
the minds of those who fail him and turning them into homeless junkies. It is
perhaps fitting then that he suffers the same fate at the end of the episode
when his PA Diana Goddard (Anna Louise Plowman) usurps him and closes the
facility down.

Then we have Adam (Bruno Langley) a teenage genus who claims
to have almost started WWIII on his home computer. Whether or not Adam was just
showing off to impress Rose, it seems he was plucked from obscurity by Van
Statten to serve as his personal scientific advisor - cataloguing and discerning
the use of every exhibit. Indeed, when the Doctor shows Adam and Van Statten how
to play a strange musical instrument, we see a faint glimmer of a potential in
Adam, but it’s soon quashed when Adam is revealed as a gutless wannabe after his
one - and only - journey in the TARDIS.

When the Dalek crash landed on the Ascension Islands it
burned in a crater for three days, screaming helplessly within the chaotic
embers of a decaying temporal shift, leaving it critically damaged and at the
mercy of Henry Van Statten. It soon took pride of place in Van Statten’s
collection, which also includes a Slitheen arm and the head of a “Revenge” style
Cyberman, where it was tortured to within an inch of it life. The new Dalek
design is chunkier than the “classic” version we all know and love: enhanced
with ablative armour plating, a wider, more angular “skirt”, and bedecked with a
golden livery that belies this Daleks role as a ruthless weapon of mass
destruction. Even in this damaged state, the Dalek is mightily impressive to
look at. The new eye stalk is particularly unsettling with its blue optics and
dilating iris. Once regenerated by Rose’s touch this Dalek displays a wealth of
new abilities: it bristles with enhanced firepower, a rotating mid-section,
astonishing computational skill, and most sensationally of all - the power of
flight. Yes, that age old joke about the Daleks and stairs is finally laid to
rest as Rose, Adam, and De Maggio (Jana Montana) make their escape - looking on
in horror as the Dalek rises into the air to follow them up a staircase.

De Maggio sacrifices herself to buy Rose and Adam more time,
but Rose becomes trapped in the Vault with the Dalek. The Dalek may have tricked
Rose into touching it, thus enabling it to absorb the energy of a Time Traveller
and escape, but it didn’t bargain on the exchange being a two way street! Rose
notices the change in the Daleks behaviour, even stopping it from killing Van
Statten, before leading the Dalek towards the upper levels where it blasts a
hole in the concrete overhead. The sun pours in through the gap as the Dalek
opens its casing to reveal the mutant inside. It basks in the sunlight a moment,
perhaps lost in some latent Kaled race memory, to a time before Skaro was
consumed by war…

Rose is horrified to see the Doctor train the energy cannon
he is carrying on the Dalek. She makes him see what has happened to the Dalek,
how it has been changed by her DNA, and the Doctor almost falls to his knees
with the horror of what he has become. The Dalek asks Rose if she is afraid, as
if seeking some bizarre recompense for the contamination that her DNA has caused
it. She realizes how horrific it must be for the Dalek to survive in this state,
so she complies, and orders the Dalek to self-terminate so that it’s twisted;
miserable existence might finally come to an end.

This episode made us all see the Daleks as more than just
mindless killing machines. It was also a critical juncture in the relationship
between the Doctor and Rose, reaffirming the vital role the companion plays in
providing the light that tempers the Time Lords steely resolve. Dalek is still
my favourite episode of Christopher Eccleston’s brief tenure as the Doctor, it
stands as a portent of the adventures still to come, and a remains a landmark
event in Doctor Who’s triumphant return.

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